Don’t forget about Fresno State, BCS dreamers

So let's get this straight. If Hawaii beats Fresno State ...

Really, this is where the speculation should end. Don't sit in the corner each night mumbling to yourself about if Connecticut loses to West Virginia and some Southeastern Conference team marches through Georgia like Sherman in the War Between the States or Texas loses to Texas A&M for a second straight season and UCLA puts the exclamation point on USC, AGAIN!!! ...

Enough already. If you keep up all this BCS speculation you're going to have to reserve a room for people they put some place else. If you don't take care of the first part of the equation -- and that's beating Fresno State Saturday after next at what should be a sellout crowd at Aloha Stadium -- then whatever comes after doesn't matter.

We've all heard the coaching mantra of one snap, one series, one game at a time. It doesn't wake up the echoes, but it does keep a young man's mind from drifting off to the big picture. There won't be any BCS if the Bulldogs come in and take a big bite out of the rainbow. The colors will all run dry as the saying goes.

So what's June Jones to do? He and his coaching staff are in uncharted waters themselves. They've won their fair share of games since inheriting a patient stretched out on the operating table.

But this is something special.

Imagine, in less than a decade from losing a season's worth of games, Hawaii is being mentioned in the same sentence of BCS bowl bid. Granted, the Red Sox broke the Curse of the Bambino, but it didn't happen in my grandfather's lifetime. And he almost lived to be a hundred.

MANY MEMBERS of the current coaching staff were here in town nine years ago when Hawaii fell to 0-8 with a 30-13 loss to UTEP in front of 15,207 on a Halloween night in 1998. For those few who were there at the Sun Bowl to witness this Great Pumpkin, our condolences.

This is a lot better.

Sure, it could all fall to the ground like what's happened at South Florida, Rutgers, Louisville, USC, Florida and Cal. And what will likely happen to Arizona State, Kansas, Boston College and even Ohio State. It's been that kind of campaign.

But whatever happens after Hawaii embraces another much-needed bye, this is one of those seasons that doesn't stop by to pay a visit too often. Greg McMackin said as much after taking part in the miracle of '99 that culminated with an Oahu Bowl win over Oregon State. He's back just in time to tackle an equally unlikely equation that means a multimillion dollar payday for a program in dire need of such a prize.

And it all starts with Fresno State. The equation may be complicated, the formula as elusive as the six BCS computers. But beating the Bulldogs is something the players can understand, comprehend, or cipher, as Jethro Bodine once said. That part's as easy as A plus B equals C, or to put it in Jones' lingo.

One snap and clear.

Sports Editor Paul Arnett has been covering sports for the Star-Bulletin since 1990. Reach him at parnett@starbulletin.com.